Sayonara, Erza
by FairyLyte
Summary: Erza. Simon. All his friends from the Tower of Heaven. He betrayed them all. Now he was paying for it. What was Jellal thinking before he took Erza's place in the lacrima?


Jerza Oneshot: Sayonara, Erza

Romance/Angst

Jellal/Erza

_Erza. Simon. All his friends from the Tower of Heaven. He betrayed them all. Now he was paying for it. What was Jellal thinking before he took Erza's place in the lacrima?_

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_(I don't own Fairy Tail. )_

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FairyLight: Just need to say, this is NOT based off the story 'Those Who Run, and Those Who Stayed Behind'. I wrote this before I even read that story.

Natsu: Yeah, she was really scared about it too.

FairyLight: Get out of here!

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When Jellal awoke, the first thing he felt was a severe pain in his jaw. It took him a minute to remember where he got it. The next thing he remembered was Erza protecting Nastu from the Altaris spell when Simon-

"Simon!" Everything started coming back to him when that name came to mind, nearly killing Erza, casting her out of the Tower, lying to the others, using them all as mere tools. Everything, from childhood, to adulthood.

"_What," _He brought his hand to his face, "_what have I been doing all this time? More importantly, what have I done?" _He saw it in his mind; coming back in flashes. The fight with the boy was the first thing he remembered. "_Why was he so mad?_" he thought. "_ It's not like I hurt him, right?_"

Another flash. Another memory. More pain. The boy's name was Natsu, and he hated Jellal for the best of reasons.

'_I hate seeing Erza like that,' _Natsu's voice rang in his head. Nothing else made more sense to the young Dragon Slayer.

"_That's right." _Jellal thought, putting his hand on his face. _"I made Erza cry. I hurt his friends. It's only natural that he'd hate me." _

The Tower shook, similar to an earthquake. Everyone outside couldn't understand the meaning, but Jellal knew what was happening. The Tower couldn't hold the energy from the Etherion. The resulting explosion would span for miles, destroying everything in it's path. Jellal was no exception.

But Jellal wasn't worried. _"It's alright. I deserve this. With what I've done, I deserve to die."_

The next quake, stronger than the last, caused the floors above him to fall, Simon's body with them, his small smile still evident on his face. Jellal was frozen with shock and horror.

"No! How did this happen?" the word's were out of Jellal's mouth before he could stop himself. "I weakened that spell." he whispered. "It wouldn't have killed him. It couldn't." He put his hands on his head, trying to convince himself. Not that he didn't kill Simon, but that he was really dead.

He tried to gather his thoughts, even though he was still in pain. In mind and body. He remembered that the Tower had to be used immediately or it would explode. Though it wasn't supposed to happen so soon. The fight with Natsu must have allowed it to leak out. Another quake. More of the lacrima fell. The Etherion was extremely unstable. The Tower wouldn't last long now.

_"__It's all right," _he thought._"if the magic is unstable, no one can get out. It's hopeless." _He remained still, completely drained of his strength. _Hopeless. _How much meaning there was to the word. He was a hopeless man, doomed to wallow in his own guilt. And so, despite his injuries, he stood up and began to walk. He didn't think about where he was going. He just walked.

It wasn't long before Jellal was surrounded by lacrima. The Tower was struggling to keep the massive magic inside, while the magic itself was struggling to burst from its seams. This battle resulted in sphere-like structures of hardened magical power.

"Ah," Jellal said. "So this is what happens when the Tower starts to break. At least," he raised his hand to touch the lacrima; "I'll die in my own creation. A fitting death for one such as me." Jellal turned to go away when he heard a voice.

_"__Erza!"_

Jellal turned around. He knew that voice!

"Natsu?" Jellal's eyes widened with horror at the sight he saw. An image had formed on the lacrima. Natsu, trying to stop someone from doing something.

"No, it can't be."

But Jellal had his doubts.

And they were crushed the moment he saw a flash of red.

Scarlet red.

"No!" Jellal yelled, banging the lacrima. Erza must have remembered what he told her when he thrust her in the lacrima. (Episode 39 people. Watch if you want to finish reading.)

"**Erza, you can't do this!**" Jellal and Natsu yelled in unison. Jellal hit the lacrima even harder than before.

Erza didn't listen.

_"__Natsu, I care about you, as well as everyone in Fairy Tail. And if it means I have to die to keep you safe..." _

Jellal hated this. His childhood friend was about to die, and he couldn't do a thing to help her. He fell down in defeat, unable to watch. He could hear it, wasn't that enough? Wouldn't that be enough punishment before he died? Something inside him, though, made him look around. As if the answer was right in front of him, he just had to want to see it.

He found it quickly. The lacrima was the answer. If he could enter the lacrima before Erza succeeded, he would be able to save her. And all the members of Fairy Tail as well. "_At least,_" he put his hand to the lacrima, "_I can do something good in my life."_

But something was wrong. Terribly wrong. The lacrima no longer accepted Jellal, and it utterly terrified him.

_"__I'm willing to make that sacrifice." _Erza then surrendered her body to the lacrima, out of everyone's reach. But not Jellal's. He, like Erza, was too stubborn to give up.

_"__Calm down." _Jellal thought, his eyes closed. _"You just have to force your way in!" _His eyes opened, a new determination and determined smile spreading across his face. He took a deep breath, letting out slowly.

_"__Concentrate,"_ he thought. _"Focus." _He slowly streamed his magic into the lacrima, separating it. It was frustrating, but it was the only way in. It didn't take long before the lacrima gave way, and his arm rushed inside. It felt like his arm was being crushed, but he accepted it silently. He didn't have much time before Erza took over, so he pushed at it until he was inside.

All the pain was gone the moment Jellal entered, the things he could do multiplied. It was like he was the Tower itself, but he had only one thing in mind.

Save Erza, and all of her friends.

With all the strength he had left, Jellal let out a burst of magic energy powerful enough to send Erza out of lacrima.

And to point the Ethierion into the sky.

* * *

Natsu was horror-stricken. Erza, his friend, was going to die and there was nothing he could do about it. But that didn't stop him from hitting the lacrima as hard as he could. As if it was a wall of glass, with Erza was on the other side. There was a small flash of light, forcing Natsu to close his eyes. When he opened them, Erza was on the ground, unconscious.

"Erza!_" _

Natsu ran over to her and picked her up, fearing that if he didn't, she would soon vanish. The Tower shook even harder than before, causing Natsu to look around in fear. But what he found surprised him even more than finding Erza.

Jellal inside the lacrima.

_"__Jellal?" _Natsu thought, his face forming a scowl. "_What is he doing in the lacrima?" _Jellal seemed to sense his glare, because he turned to face Natsu. But what Natsu saw was beyond belief. At least, to him.

Jellal was smiling.

Not some big grin, no, nothing like that. It was more of a heartwarming smile, meant only for that one time.

Meant only for Natsu and Erza.

* * *

Jellal lay motionless in the water as his memories began to slip away. In truth, he was afraid. Not of death. He knew he deserved that. But he at least wanted to die remembering his friends. Not as an empty shell. He thought of nothing but them, the only people that mattered in his life. He didn't want to let them go.

* * *

_The little boy was silently crying from hunger. Why weren't they fed better here? Was it because they were slaves? Because they would die anyway? However, even though he continued to cry, they didn't fall on deaf ears, because he was soon joined by a boy with blue hair and a red tattoo on the right side of his face. The little boy usually noticed the tattoo first, but now his eyes were focussed on the bread the blue-haired boy held in his hands._

_"__Je-" _

_"__Shh!" the blue-haired boy interrupted, as he passed the bread into the little boy's hands. " Just eat, and don't tell anyone I did this."_

_"__Even Rob?" the boy asked. _

_"__Even Rob," was the reply. _

_The blue-haired boy got up to sneak back to bed when he heard the boy's quivering voice. "Thank you."_

_He smiled. "Don't mention it."_

* * *

_The tools in the Tower differ in weight and size. Because of this, some are easy to handle, some aren't. So what happens when two kids get ahold of the same tool? _

_"__It's mine!" a boy yelled._

_" __It's mine, meow!" a girl argued._

_"__Mine!"_

_"__MINE!"_

_Pure Chaos._

_Meanwhile, a red haired girl and a blue haired boy were playing Rock-Paper-Scissors to figure out who would calm the two down. _

_End result: Paper beats Rock, red, 1 blue, 0._

_"__Ha-ha, I win," the girl said, waving her hand in the air. "Good luck!" _

_The boy hit his face with his hand. Why did he rely on Rock all the time? He looked at the two bickering and sighed. "I'll need it." He got up from the stone he was sitting on and went over to the source of the racket._

_"__Hey, you two," he called. "Stop fighting and let go of that thing." He could have chosen a better time to stop the fight, because the moment he got his hands on it, the girl bit him. _

_"__OW!" The boy jumped back, holding his wrist. "You have a good set of fangs there. That hurt." The girl was more shocked that she bit him than that he interrupted the fight, so was the other boy. Both weren't even focussed on the tool anymore, giving the older girl a chance to pick it up. But unlike other people, who would have put the tool away, she gave it to the older man in the group, Rob. He went over to the trio and, after learning what happened, gave the girl a glare that scared the living daylights out of her. So she said the words she felt she had to say to the wounded boy._

_"__I'm sorry."_

* * *

_The blue haired boy jumped in the air, his fist held high. "All right! Now that you're here, name time!" _

_One of the boy's couldn't help but notice the big grin on his face. __'We're slaves,'__ he thought, __'we'll never see our family's again. How can he be so happy all the time?' _

_The blue haired boy seemed to read his mind. "I don't know why I'm happy, so don't ask." He stood face-to-face with the boy in question. " But I did say it was name time, so if you don't tell me, I'll call you by a nickname instead." _

_The other boy shrugged. "I don't really care what you call me." _

_The red haired girl in the room saw that the older man in the room face-palm himself. The blue haired boy, in turn, grinned. "All right. Broomhead." _

_You could see the angry mark on the other boy's head._

_"__The name is Wally Buchanan, don't forget it!" he got up, looking as if he would do the blue haired boy some violence._

_The boy, in turn, raised his arms in defense. "Okay, okay it was a joke, don't hurt me!" _

_Wally backed off. "Your name?" _

_The grin returned to the boy's face. "Jellal Fernandes."_

* * *

_The round faced boy was staring at the red haired girl. For some reason, the work he was given seemed easier because of her. He let out a sigh, a small smile spreading across his face._

_"__What do you think you're doing?" A tattooed boy hit the round faced boy's head with the shovel he was holding. It took all he had to keep from screaming from pain. _

_And fright._

_He turned to the culprit, who in turn hid the shovel behind his back. It turned out to be futile because the shovel was taller than him._

_"__Hey!" the round faced boy yelled. "What the heck did you that for?" _

_The boy raised his hands in defense. "Hey, take it easy. I was just passing by when I saw you staring at a certain red haired lady." A sly grin crossed his face. "And since she didn't know what you were doing, I decided to hit you in her place." The round faced boy growled in annoyance, but he couldn't do anything. 'Cause if she did know, she would have hit him harder than the tattooed boy did. Way harder. _

* * *

_The blue haired boy led the red haired girl and the others down the hall, heading towards their cell. Truthfully, they would have been led by guards, but they had, quote, 'other matters to tend to.'_

_'Where is he leading us?'__ the red haired girl wondered. '__Those men back there were really mean. Who's to say that-'_

_"__I'm not the same?_" _The boy girl jerked her head in fear. Did he just read her mind? The boy sighed. "Let me get this straight. I am not reading your mind, okay? I am not a wizard." He formed his arms into an __**X **__to prove his point. "I can, however, read your facial expressions."_

_The girl was satisfied, so she started walking again. Because of this, she didn't notice the boy's grin. "As for your first question," the girl stood still with shock. She let that slip on her face? "I am leading you to my cell, where I live with my-" the boy started to cough._

_The girl, clueless as to what was happening, ran towards him to help. __'What's wrong?'__ she thought, __'Does this happen to everyone in the tower?'_

_The boy stopped coughing after the next couple seconds, deciding to finish his sentence. "Where I live with my friend, Rob. He's kinda old, so be polite when we get there, okay?"_

_(At the cell)_

_The red haired girl could see why the blue haired boy said to 'be polite'. Kinda old? This guy was really old! He only wore a pair of shorts, revealing a strange mark on his lower back. His hair was white, accompanied by a compassionate gaze._

_"__Oi, Rob!" The blue haired boy ran up to the aged man, the latter visibly shocked by the amount of kids in the cell. _

_"__Tell me," Rob said, " what are these children doing here?" The boy went from happy to serious the moment that question was asked. "I found them during the round-up. One of them came to me and asked if I could help, so I took them here." The boy gathered up what little courage he had in order to ask a question. Just one._

_"__Can they stay here, please?" The man sighed, opening his eyes a little. The red haired girl could see something in them. Regret._

_"__No." _

_The boy's head jerked up, his as wide as if someone just said that he would die in a few days. (reference to an anime) "W-why not? Why can't they stay here?" The man remained silent. "Why not, Rob?!" Tears were forming in the young boy's eyes, compelling the man to answer. _

_"__They are too many." He said softly. "You should have let someone else take them in." The boy tried his best to calm down, slowly turning around. _

_"__And let them end up like this?" He asked in a quiet voice. He lifted up his shirt, revealing something to the man. Something that the others couldn't see, but moved the man greatly. _

_"__That man was one of few," was all he said. The girl saw the boy's hair stand on end, like an angry cat. But despite his obvious anger, he still managed to keep his voice to a whisper. "One of many, Rob." Despite what she had already seen and heard, the girl still didn't understand what the boy meant with all this. But he had more to say. "Almost every child in this Tower has scars, bruises. They can hardly stand up. You want them to end up like that?" The boy looked as if saying that caused him great pain. And the girl finally realized what this boy, this stranger, was protecting them from. Now, where she originally didn't care where she ended up, she wanted to stay. Her other options were now deemed to dangerous. This was her safehouse. But the man remained firm. _

_"__No"_

_This time, the girl snapped. "You can't-" she started to protest, before it became apparent that the boy snapped as well. _

_"__She's from Rosemary!" the boy yelled, pointing to the girl. "And all those other kids are practically glued to her. So if she stays, they stay!" The boy fell to the ground, panting and laughing at the same time. Who knew talking could be so hard?_

_The man was clearly shocked. But not about his outburst._

_"__She's from Rosemary?" _

_The girl spoke up. "Yes sir, I am."_

_The man smiled and sat there, deep in thought. Have you ever felt anxiety or dread so badly, you thought you would faint? The blue haired boy and the red haired girl, and everyone else in the room thought they would die. At least fainted if he hadn't answered. "Very well. They may stay."_

* * *

Jellal smiled as he remembered those happy times in the past. As his life continued to fade, his memories forgotten, he knew there was one name he would remember the rest of his life.

_Sayonara, Erza._

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**FairyLyte: By the way, this story used to be published on Durbe The Barian's profile. The reason it is here and not there is because this is my story. I wrote it. Just wanna make that clear.**


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